Austin
- slyeabby
- May 2, 2025
- 9 min read
Austin was a treat because 1) I've always wanted to see the city, 2) I got to experience it with Mom, solo and then with Dad, and 3) I knew I'd be back in the somewhat near future.
One of my best friends, Sophia, is making Austin her home soon. So I was able to enjoy the city without feeling anxious to see every thing there, a minor anxiety I'd experienced in the other major cities on my route.
My cousin, Jessica, is also based in Austin and so I got to connect with her as well. First with Mom, then again on my own with a friend of hers. Actually, Austin was a welcome reminder to myself more generally about my excitement for my next phase of life: working in and around museums. Jessica works for the Austin Parks & Rec Department and organizes the nature center and museum there. Her friend is an interpretive writer. And in addition to talking to them and seeing Jessica's nature center, I spent some of my solo time in UT Austin's Museum of Art, Blanton, and loved every second of it.
That's not my immediate future, and I'm in no rush. Right now, I am soaking in all of my time away from school and a "big girl job". But it's comforting to be reminded that the path I've loosely placed myself in for the future is one that's exciting to me. That I'm passionate about it.
But back to the present. Back to my trip.
Austin was a blast.
Exploring With Momma
Mom and I were there together for only a couple of nights. As we drove through hill country, we already had our eyes peeled for blue bonnets, and saw a few dotting the roads. After we dropped off our things in our VRBO, we took the short walk over to the Colorado River and spotted a whole patch of them. And, after a week of East Texas rain, the sun in Austin was shining bright. It was a beautiful sight.
Bluebonnets!
That first night, we met Jessica for dinner. It was lovely to see her again after so many years apart, especially for my mom. The next day she gave us a tour of her nature center and met us for lunch. It always makes me infinitely more excited to experience a city when someone local is there to share their love for it, so every recommendation and meeting spot was appreciated.
Mom and I started our next day off with breakfast tacos at a food truck park in East Austin before exploring SoCo (South Congress Ave). We had tacos for lunch too... I probably couldn't accurately count the amount of tacos I had while I was in Texas. It was a wonderfully large total.
SoCo was super unique. Both of us were so impressed by the sheer amount of art that lined Austin's streets and saturated its culture. We had a great time selecting unique little souvenirs for ourselves (including matching "Texas Bluebonnet Appreciation Society" stickers and a Austin sightseeing bingo board). Then, after our lunch and tour with Jessica, we headed for Barton Springs.
Barton Springs is incomparable to any city feature I've ever experienced before. It's a beautiful natural spring that runs right through the city of Austin. Part of it is maintained as a city pool with lifeguards which is where mom and I swam. When you were floating in the center of the spring, you were looking at a complete view of the skyline... unreal.
Barton Springs (pt. 1).
Mom loves to find a spot to swim whenever she's on vacation. It honestly wasn't something I had realized we would be able to do on our trip together, but I'm happy we did.
Perhaps the highlight of Austin with Momma was Terry Black's Barbecue... recommended by someone we met along SoCo. I hardly ever eat beef, but I'll make an exception for brisket, especially when I'm in Texas. It melted in your mouth. And we somehow managed to make space for banana pudding too after we finished our brisket and fixins-- Mom's favorite.
Before... and after at Terry Black's.
We both decided almost immediately after our first bites that I would have to take Dad there when he landed a few days later.
The next morning, Mom and I shared a proper teary Texas goodbye. Usually we're both the ones leaving but this time I had a lot more journeying to look forward to. I missed her right away, of course. Love you Momma.
Goin' Solo
I had three nights before Dad joined me. So I got to spend some time truly as a solo traveller... something I had looked forward to on my trip, but hadn't actually had a chance to experience much until Austin.
I stayed at a hostel. It was awesome.
I bunked with people from across the world in an old converted firehouse with a speakeasy on its ground floor. We were a few blocks away from the capitol and around the corner from 6th street (kind of like Austin's Bourbon St., but with more comedy clubs).
Before checking in, I spent the afternoon at Lazarus Brewing, which I went to with Mom and Dad too, respectively. It was a great spot to enjoy a coffee (or beer) and work on my blog.
When I first got to the hostel, I was jittery as hell. I was so excited. But bunking with seven strangers was definitely not in my immediate comfort zone. So I tried to nap, gave up, sat at an abnormally high dive bar alone for dinner, and went for a walk to the capitol. Further up and further in. It wasn't easy, but I knew I'd find my footing.
Somewhere in there I met Luna. She was visiting from Korea. She sweetly asked if I wanted to join her and a few others at a "cowboy bar" that night. Hell yeah. Further up and further in.
And so later that night, her and a few guys from our room walked to the White Horse, a two step and country swing bar on East 6th with live music. And we danced for hours. It was wonderful. I learned the steps, I laughed with strangers, I met a abnormally large amount of people who worked in public transit across the U.S. (there for a conference), and I got a taco on the way home.
The next day I walked a lot. I had to run a couple of errands and found myself at a cool smoothie shop along the way. Then I walked to UT's campus. The small sliver of it I saw was awesome. I hope I can explore more of the campus with Sophia someday. But for my short visit, I prioritized the Blanton Museum of Art. As I said before, it was great. Not only did I get to nerd out, I got to enjoy some beautiful art.
Some of my favorite views/artworks at Blanton.
Then I walked back to the hostel, stopping for dinner at a German spot along the way, which was kind of homey... it made me smile. That night, I didn't really want to go to any bars, but the hostel was advertising a ladies' night comedy show nearby and I figured... when in Austin, right?
I'm glad I went. It's not my thing, stand up. But it was a unique experience to have and an interesting place to people watch, if nothing else.
Little snapshots of hostel life-- a mural in the staircase, my little cocoon (bunk) for the three nights I crashed there, and staff recommendations for the week.
My last solo day was probably my favorite. It was busy, but the good kind of busy. I met Jessica and her friend for brunch, then explored the Zilker Botanical Gardens which turned into an impromptu hike because I accidentally parked/entered from the wrong entrance. Hiking in a long skirt... check!
Then I went back to Barton Springs to meet up with some friends from the hostel. The public pool part was closed but there was a crowd nearby in the more shallow, wooded part of the spring so I joined them. Eventually, people from the hostel joined me.
Austin has a reputation for its weirdness. Barton Springs was where I really got to experience that weirdness, and in the most wonderful way. People of all walks of life were gathered in that small stretch of spring. There were families, swimmers, fishermen, friends, locals, tourists, dogs... the whole lot. People were picnicking, smoking, sunbathing. It was beautiful.
Pri, a friend from Australia I'd met at the hostel, and I quickly befriended a beautiful pregnant woman who'd come alone aside from her dog to enjoy the springs. Or, rather, she quickly befriended us, immediately offering us space on her large blanket, introducing us to her dog, telling us about her life. I helped her get her boots off and her whole face lit up. We learned that she had once traveled the world as an opera singer, and was originally from Alaska. Later, she asked to sing us a song. Of course, we said yes. Her voice was hauntingly beautiful. She sang Affair with the Moon by Lidia Solomon.
Juanita, a sweet friend from the hostel that I hadn't met until she arrived at Barton Springs, joined us, immediately locked eyes with me, and asked if I wanted to practice Tarot with her. I said yes. She and I thought about what to ask the cards. I thought I'd like to know what may be coming my way this summer. We worked our way through the reading together (though my knowledge paled in comparison to hers). I don't remember the details, but I do remember feeling excited... to be there, for what was in store for me this summer... many of the cards were positive, transformational, adventurous.
What a cool place. What cool experiences.
I couldn't drive many of my friends back to the hostel, but Pri took me up on a ride so we said goodbye, each received a kiss on the cheek from our opera-singing friend, and picked up Whataburger (she had yet to experience the Texas fast food staple). After a day in the sun, those sandwiches were extra delicious.
Later, for dinner, I met up with Sam (Sophia's boyfriend, who she'll be making Austin home with soon). It was fun to see a familiar face, I think for both of us, and between us each being academia nerds and loving Sophia so much, we had no shortage of conversation topics.
To close out the night, I met up with Pri and a few girls from the UK along 6th Street. We had learned in our first nights that a lot of bars offer free drinks if you play your cards right, so we made the plan to take them up on the offers until we found a place we liked... which ended up being "The Jackalope," at least for a little while. There, we crashed a bachelorette party, danced the macarena to as many songs as possible with a gay man I never got the name of, and cheered Pri on as she convinced the same guy to do a "shoey" with her, which is an Australian tradition where you pour and then drink a beer out of your shoe. Gnarly, but I learned something new, so hell yeah.
Pri & Georgia, the shoey & posing with the jackalope.
Then we found an uncrowded rooftop complete with a great live rock band, and worked off every ounce of alcohol we'd consumed by jumping and dancing like maniacs until the end of their set. A few other people from the hostel eventually found us there, and joined in.
We got pizza, exchanged stories in the hostel kitchen, and went to bed. Another night in Austin well spent. I probably slept with a smile on my face. And to top off a great few days on my own, I got to see my Dad the next day.
Enter: Dad
After checking out at the hostel and passing some time at a cafe, I made my way back to Austin's airport, this time to pick up Dad and kick off our leg of my adventure.
Our first stop was lunch at Terry Black's, as promised. I don't think Dad ate another meal that entire day, the food there was so good and so filling. I, of course, got a couple of tacos late that night.
Then we walked around Zilker, Austin's large city park. I'd been there for the nature center, Barton Springs and the botanical gardens, but we chose to walk along the Colorado River for a while, still new territory for me.
After relaxing for a bit at the hotel, we headed back downtown. I wanted Dad to see the capitol... it was such a beautiful green space in the city. From there we went to Friends' bar (around the corner from the hostel, actually) and enjoyed the band there for a while. I'm glad we got to see live music together, I get my love for it from him.
At the capital & Friends bar.
The weather was perfect, so we had another drink at Lazarus Brewing and talked and laughed and just enjoyed the fact that we were together and were about to drive towards a national park we'd talked about visiting for a long time.
The next morning, we headed for Big Bend.
Austin was a much needed chance to reconnect with myself and explore something on my own. I felt empowered by the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone and meet new people. But I also felt lucky to enjoy elements of the city truly on my own, then share some of those things with people I love.
Plus, I got to wear my boots.
And dance.
I loved it.
And to whoever is reading this now...
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